Chicken Coops for Sale in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Chicken Coops — The Top 5 Requirements
Chicken Coops – What You Need
Happy, healthy chickens need proper housing, but knowing what you need may seem daunting. Don’t let choosing the house for your chickens intimidate you. Meeting the needs of your flock, whether building your own chicken castle or buying ready-made, is easy and should provide for four basic needs.
- Protection from the elements
- Protection from predators
- Place for laying eggs
- A roost at night
The Components of a Chicken Coop
As I wrote in my , chickens have an innate homing instinct, keeping your flock close to home. Our feathered kids are such home bodies that even free ranging, every night before sundown all our chickens are perched in the coop. I always recommend a protected place for your flock to come home and roost for the night, even when free ranging.
You don’t need a poultry castle for your chickens to come home to. come in many shapes, sizes, and designs, from fancy to plain. Believe it or not, your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like as long as it provides the above four basic needs.
With that said, before deciding what type of coop you are going to buy or build, you must determine what coop features are needed that most closely conform to a chicken’s natural behavior. Hopefully I can help you understand what you need in the design of your chicken coop.
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. All chicken coops need 3 things; a roof, 4 walls, and a doorway for entering and leaving. The design and the materials used for the chicken coop is up to you. As long as it is mostly draft free (you still need healthy ventilation), your choices are endless.
Your coop space is based on the number of chickens you plan to house. A good rule of thumb is 4 square feet of floor space per large chicken and 3 square feet for the smaller bantam breeds. Also consider the ease of cleaning when choosing your coop design; you’ll be glad you did.
Security
Making a chicken coop predator free is the most important part of building a home for your flock. Your coop must be secure from the top, bottom, and all sides. When looking at any pre-made coop or chicken coop building plans, consider all angles for security. Not only should you consider the security of the coop itself, but the security of the yard and run as well.
When choosing the wire for your run and coop, we advise steering clear of standard chicken wire. While it works well for keeping your chickens contained it’s not entirely predator proof. Because the holes in standard chicken wire are large, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes can still reach through the mesh, causing harm to your chickens. Always use a small hole wire like hardware cloth with ½ inch openings.
Another consideration when building the chicken yard or run, is airborne predators like hawks. You must include covering the top of the run as well. Our chicken runs use the same size mesh fencing on the top as the sides.
Finally, there are predators from below, such as rats and mice. These critters are attracted to the feed and droppings and like to burrow under your coop. Protect your chickens by using a coop with a floor built into it or burying small mesh fencing below the coop and extending it about 12 inches out on all sides.
The Outside Run
All coops need a connecting chicken run or pen. Chickens need access to the outside to do all those “chicken things”, like dirt baths, catching bugs, scratching dirt, or just relaxing in the sunshine or shade.
Ideally, your chicken run should have 10 square feet of ground space per full size chicken. The smaller bantam breeds require less, about 7 square feet per chicken. If your chickens free range the majority of the day, you can get by with less space.
Laying Boxes
If you want eggs, you need laying boxes. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like, just as long as they are about 12” x 12” and raised off the ground a few inches. You need one box for every 4 laying hens. Boxes should comfortably fit the chicken and have low enough sides for the hens to step over. Be sure to keep your boxes lined with clean straw or other bedding.
Roosting Perches
All birds roost, including chickens. Your coop needs a roosting bar or something off the ground on which your chickens can perch. We strongly suggest having perches both inside the coop and outside in the run area.
When figuring roosting pole size, provide 5-10” of space per chicken and 10” of space between each pole if you are using more than one. Multiple poles also need grading like ladders so the farthest pole is several inches higher than the next.
There are many shapes, sizes, and styles of chicken coops to choose from. Making the right choice for your needs is important, and all coops need to contain all necessary elements.
Share this:
Like this:
Chicken Coop Plans For 20 Chickens in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Point Pleasant West Virginia" into any one of the numerous search engines and a wealth of information will pop up. This information will provide links to other websites that will be informative and will provide the right direction for finding Point Pleasant West Virginia chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Point Pleasant, West Virginia With the big boost in poultry keeping there has been a just as huge rise in the variety of chicken stuff for sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in point. It's likewise a traditional example of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential poultry housing professionals market a variety of lodging declaring to be the suitable option to your chicken real estate demands. Typically the price looks desirable, the house looks eye-catching, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look appealing. Definitely they know a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many inexpensive and unpleasant coops flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, and also seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed container appeared. The outcome was only a costly stack of fire wood as well as a little group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop And Run Plans in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Most of the time these mass produced versions are constructed of rapid grown hardwood - come the initial decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm day indicates the lumber dries and cracks, the really felt roof covering bubbles and also boils, and come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their as soon as desirable residential property yet because the hovel is currently a place for, and probably crawling with, the poultry keeper's bane, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would fit four large chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A few joints and also some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to four birds need to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can rely on whether you choose for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are ranging your birds in a big area and the pop opening door is big enough for the type you maintain, after that the major requirements of housing boil down to three factors which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch should be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) resulting in soiled eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in the house they must be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors but are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably your house should have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. Your home should have adequate air flow: without it after that condensation will accumulate every night, also in the coldest of climate. Be aware, ventilation deals with the concept of warm air leaving through a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of openings on contrary walls of the house and at the exact same level, this is just what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the points above are still true, yet you must additionally think about the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping density for a complimentary variety bird is (as well as allow's face it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly improved or far better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m squared. Take a close look at several of the bargain residences - it could well be your home has the best perches, correct ventilation as well as ample nest boxes for a practical number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get just what you pay for". You might assume you've got a deal, yet you and your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house as well as it will last for a few decades, if not longer offered the right treatment. Eventually your fowl and your fowl keeping experience will be much the better for it.diy for sale
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in North Spring, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Pineville, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Martinsburg, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Adrian, West Virginia
Chicken Coops for Sale in Gap Mills, West Virginia